The Great Boswell Bake Off

Week 4 - Mary’s Florentines

Well, these looked easy. The entire technical challenge was supposed to last only 75 minutes, and the ingredient measurements were all reassuringly straight-forward: 50 grams each of the four main ones and 25 grams each of the mix-ins. L had to order the golden syrup online. (Verdict? Golden syrup looks and tastes very much like corn syrup probably, but it comes in a very cool tin.)

The mix came together quickly and we spooned them onto a cookie sheet, leaving plenty of room to spread. They didn’t spread. Eight minutes later we had small chewy cookies, not the thin crisp lacy cookies we were supposed to get. 

Determined to finish them so we could eat them anyway, we melted and tempered the semi-sweet chocolate and brushed the bottom of each one, giving them the signature “zig-zag” pattern with a fork.

Week 3 - Paul’s Savoury Biscuits

This week we made biscuits (or as we would call them stateside, crackers) - poppy seed, and sun-dried tomato Parmesan. I was concerned when the mix came together and strands of gluten were already forming. They rolled out without any stickiness, although the poppy dough was so stiff, it resisted L’s rolling pin.

The challenge was nine of each. We got seven from the poppy dough and ten from the tomato, with the poppy biscuits being a bit thicker. L gave them an egg wash and we threw them in the oven. We had a bit of baker’s remorse when we realized we should have poked holes in them to keep them from puffing up - and boy, did they puff up.

The overall consistency when they came out of the oven was that of a thin American biscuit, not a snappy British one. This was most likely due to the thickness of the biscuits, but possibly also due to the gluten, or maybe we simply didn’t leave them in the oven long enough.

Week 2 - Mary Berry’s Cherry Cake

Our first technical challenge and a wonderfully simple all-in-one direction. Our primary objective: to evenly disperse those damn glacé cherries. L prepped and rinsed and I dried them off and tossed them in flour before we lovingly folding them in our batter. The batter was much wetter than the one Paul and Mary made, but it’s 86 and humid and we’re in North Carolina, so what else did we expect?

It reached a beautiful golden brown, I whipped up the lemon icing while L toasted the almonds and we had cake on the table in the hour.

Week 1, Attempt 2

Swiss Roll with Strawberry Jam and Orange Buttercream (Paul’s Blackcurrent and Liquorice Roll revisited)

After the failure of the first roll, we attempted a second one instead of moving on to the next challenge. (As we’re not being televised, we can do that!) We chose orange for our decorative sponge and strawberry for our jam filling. L bought a piping bag set, and the striping came out a good deal better. Also, we let the eggs warm up and reached the elusive ribbon stage. It was an auspicious beginning (re-beginning?)

The bake was supposed to take 10-12 minutes. Well after 8:30, the sponge was golden brown and springy to the touch. We took it out and pre-rolled it and let it set while we made the orange buttercream.

As the photos document, we overfilled the roll a bit and despite best efforts, did not get a tight roll. It was though, in L’s words, “Perfectly adequate and totally edible.”

Week 1

First recipe: Paul’s Blackcurrent and Liquorice Swiss Roll from the Masterclass 1

L doesn’t care for liquorice, so we used vanilla extract to flavor our decorative sponge. We also substituted blueberry for blackcurrent jam. 

The decorative sponge went off without a hitch, though, lacking a piping bag we opted to spoon on the striping, resulting in thicker stripes. The eggs and sugar for the main sponge failed to reach ribbon stage, we are positing that this was due to cold eggs. We folded in the self-rising flour but were left with a runny, lumpy sponge. Ten minutes in the oven wasn’t quite enough - twelve was a bit over done. The buttercream layer was a bit too thick and the sponge cracked as we rolled it